The latest available data from the Justice Department show that during July 2013 the government reported 1804 new narcotics/drugs prosecutions.
According to the case-by-case information analyzed by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), this number is down 9.6% over the previous month.

The comparisons of the number of defendants charged with narcotics/drugs-related offenses are based on case-by-case information obtained by TRAC under the Freedom
of Information Act from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys. (See Table 1)

When monthly 2013 prosecutions of this type are compared with those of the same period in
the previous year, the number of filings was down (-7.2 percent).
Prosecutions over the past year are still much lower than they were five years ago.
Overall, the data show that prosecutions of this type are down 7.5 percent from levels reported in 2008.

Figure 1: Monthly trends in narcotics/drugs prosecutions

The leveling out from the levels five years ago in narcotics/drugs prosecutions for these matters is shown more clearly in Figure 1.
The vertical bars in Figure 1
represent the number of narcotics/drugs prosecutions of this type recorded on a month-to-month
basis. Where a prosecution was initially filed in U.S. Magistrate Court and then transferred to the U.S. District Court,
the magistrate filing date was used since this provides an earlier indicator of actual trends.
The superimposed line on the bars plots the six-month moving average so
that natural fluctuations are smoothed out. The one and five-year rates of change in Table 1 and in the sections that follow are all based upon this six-month moving average. To view trends year-by-year rather than month-by-month, see TRAC's annual report series for a broader picture.

Within the broad category of narcotics/drugs, cases were classified by prosecutors into more specific types.

Case types within narcotics/drugs are

Drug Trafficking

Simple Drug Possession

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF)

Major Project Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)

Other Triggerlock Prosecutions (OCDETF)

The largest number of prosecutions of these matters in July 2013 was for "Drugs-Drug Trafficking", accounting for 80.3 percent of prosecutions. Prosecutions were also filed for "Drugs-Organized Crime Task Force" (15.7%), "
Drugs-Simple Drug Possession" (4%).
See Figure 2.

The lead investigative agency for narcotics/drugs prosecutions in July 2013
was DEA accounting for 42 percent of prosecutions referred.
Other agencies with substantial numbers of narcotics/drugs referrals were:
DHS (31% ), FBI (7%), Local (7%), ATF (6%).
See Figure 3.

Figure 2: Specific types of prosecutions

Figure 3: Prosecutions by investigative agency

Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. Magistrate Courts

Top Ranked Lead Charges

In July 2013, 671 defendants
in narcotics/drugs cases for these matters were
filed in U.S. Magistrate Courts. These courts handle less serious
misdemeanor cases, including what are called "petty offenses." In
addition, complaints are sometimes filed in the magistrate courts before
an indictment or information is entered. In these cases, the matter
starts in the magistrate courts and later moves to the district court
where subsequent proceedings take place.

In the magistrate courts in July the most frequently cited lead charge was
Title 21 U.S.C Section 841 involving the "Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts A". This was the lead charge
for 38.7 percent of all magistrate filings in July.

Narcotics/Drugs Prosecutions in U.S. District Courts

In July 2013, 1133 defendants in new cases
for these matters were charged in the U.S. District Courts. In addition during July there
were an additional 449 defendants whose cases moved from the magistrate
courts to the U.S. district courts after an indictment or information
was filed. The sections which follow cover both sets of cases and
therefore cover all matters filed in district court during July.

Top Ranked Lead Charges

Table 2 shows the top lead charges recorded in the prosecutions of narcotics/drugs matters
filed in U.S. District Court during July 2013.

Ranked 2nd in frequency was the lead charge "Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846.
"Attempt and conspiracy" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 846 was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 2 five years ago.

Ranked 3rd was "Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952.
"Importation of controlled substances" under Title 21 U.S.C Section 952 was ranked 3 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 five years ago.

Among these top ten lead charges, the one showing the greatest
increase in prosecutions—up 95.7 percent—compared to one year ago was Title 21 U.S.C Section 843
that involves " Drug Abuse Prevention & Control-Prohibited acts C
".
Compared to five years ago, the largest increase—137.5 percent—was registered for
prosecutions under " Providing or possessing contraband in prison
" (Title 18 U.S.C Section 1791 ).

Again among the top ten lead charges, the one showing the sharpest
decline in prosecutions compared to one year ago—down 55.4 percent—was
Possession control substance on vessel subject to jurisdiction of US
(Title 46 U.S.C Section 70503 ).
Compared to five years ago, the most significant decline in prosecutions— 56.3 percent—was
for filings where the lead charge was " Penalty for simple possession
" (Title 21 U.S.C Section 844
).

Top Ranked Judicial Districts

In July 2013 the Justice Department said the government brought 618.4 narcotics/drugs prosecutions for every ten million people in the United States.

Understandably, there is great variation in the per capita number of narcotics/drugs prosecutions that are filed in each of the nation's ninety-four federal judicial districts.

The districts registering the
largest number of prosecutions per capita for these matters last month are shown in Table 3.
Districts must have at least 5 narcotics/drugs prosecutions to receive a ranking.

The Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling)—with 5625 prosecutions as compared with 618.4 prosecutions per ten million population in the United States—was the most active during July 2013.

The Southern District of California (San Diego) ranked 2nd.
The Southern District of California (San Diego) was ranked 2 a year ago, while it was ranked 3 for most frequent use five years ago.

District of North Dakota is now ranking 3rd.

Recent entrants to the top 10 list were
Northern District of West Virginia (Wheeling), now ranked
1st
, and Western District of Tennessee (Memphis)
at 5th
In the same order, these districts ranked 16th and 24th one year ago and 29th and 38th five years ago.

The federal judicial district which showed the greatest growth
in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions compared to one year ago— 883.3 percent—was
Wyoming .
Compared to five years ago, the district with the largest growth— 380 percent—was
North Dakota .

In the last year, the judicial District Court recording the
largest drop in the rate of narcotics/drugs prosecutions— 18.5 percent—was
Southern District of California (San Diego).
But over the past five years,
Western District of Texas (San Antonio)
showed the largest drop— 42.5 percent.

Top Ranked District Judges

At any one time, there are about 680 federal District Court judges working in the United States. The judges recorded with the largest number of new narcotics/drugs crime cases of this type during July 2013 are shown in Table 4.

A total of 6 out of the "top ten" judges were in districts which were in the top ten with the largest number of narcotics/drugs filings per capita, while the remaining 4 judges were from other districts.

Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 1st with 36 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.

Judge Richard Lesley Voorhees in the Western District of North Carolina (Asheville) ranked 2nd with 33 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.

Judge Randy Crane in the Southern District of Texas (Houston) ranked 3rd with 30 defendants in narcotics/drugs cases.
Judge Cranealso appeared in the top ten rankings one year ago(ranked 4).